Bliss
by Veles
Summary: Drabbles set well after High Maintenance... For those times interspersed between all the stress and drama of life that make everything seem absolutely perfect.
1. The Dragon King and The Master Ninja

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and all characters therein belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki.

A/N: I really need to thank everyone again for the reviews I've gotten. It's a lot of fun to hear that the drabbles are being enjoyed even when there isn't much rhyme or reason to them.

On that same note, this one sort of came out of nowhere in the same general fashion. It's still in the High Maintenance setting, but I really debated on posting it because it's so much farther ahead that the others. Then again, it was pointed out to me that I haven't exactly paid much attention to chronologic order in the other drabble sets before, so... here it is.

Bliss

_The Dragon King and The Master Ninja_

Kenji wrapped his hand tighter around his father's fingers and enthusiastically tugged him down the hallway. When Kenshin didn't follow fast enough to suit him, he glanced up with a frustrated huff and pulled harder. His smile returned just as quickly as soon as his father obediently lengthened his stride.

Kenshin looked up curiously as Kenji took a turn into the living room, and automatically smiled at finding Kaoru waiting on the couch. He raised his brows in question and tilted his head down to Kenji in silent indication, but Kaoru only shrugged in equal confusion.

Oblivious to their byplay, Kenji kept pulling his father determinedly to the couch and pushed on his knees to make him sit next to Kaoru. She quickly hid her smile behind her hand at Kenji's serious expression and absently leaned forward as Kenshin followed the direction, habitually wrapping his arm around her waist. Sighing in contentment at not only the warmth of his body but how easily he fit her against his side, she held out her hands to Kenji.

The direct approach still worked best in trying to figure out if their son was putting out an elaborate demand for affection. Yet, instead of his usual dash into his favorite spot at her invitation, Kenji shook his head and patted his mother's hands. "You sit here with Tou-san."

Kenshin squeezed her hip and struggled not to laugh at Kenji's stern instruction, pressing his face against her hair to conceal his smile. Kaoru didn't bother looking back at him as she straightened her spine and pointedly folded her hands in her lap. She stared down her son and arched one eyebrow, waiting for him to crack in the face of her disapproval.

Kenji hunched slightly, fidgeting and folded his hands behind his back anxiously before he amended, "Please?"

Kaoru smiled and leaned down to brush Kenji's bangs away from his face and press a kiss to his forehead. She gave him one more pat on the head to assure him all was forgiven before she relaxed against Kenshin's chest.

With a delighted grin at having regained his mother's approval, Kenji hurried over to the kotatsu and picked up the sketchbook Aoshi had given him for his birthday. Bracing one corner on the table, he maneuvered the book carefully to hold it just right and proudly squared his shoulders.

Kenji pulled open the book and turned the pages until he found the first picture he wanted them to see. After adjusting his grip to keep any of the other pages from blocking his art, he cleared his throat, turned up his nose, and pointed to the picture. "This is the story of 'The Dragon King and The Master Ninja.'"

Kaoru bit down hard on her lip, but still couldn't keep the smile off her face at the dragon, carefully drawn in scarlet pencil, looming over a purple ninja with blue eyes. Kenshin's embrace tightened with his own rising amusement until she felt him shaking behind her with the effort to keep his laughter contained.

Kenji puffed up his chest even more proudly at their rapt attention and turned to the next page. This time showing off the dragon sitting up on its hind legs and surrounded by clouds that looked an awful lot like the ones on his favorite scroll paintings in Kenshin's office.

Pointing at the new picture, he started his story, "Once there was a very old and powerful king of the dragons."

Kaoru's hand moved to Kenshin's thigh, digging her nails into the muscle in silent taunt as Kenji turned the page again.

Kenshin grinned widely at the drawing of the ninja and reached up to tug on the end of Kaoru's ponytail to tease her about the obvious source of inspiration. He dipped his head to nuzzle behind her ear affectionately, only to be brought up short when Kenji loudly cleared his throat again.

"Tou-san, I'm telling the story!" Kenji complained.

Kenshin quickly straightened and held up both hands contritely at the two accusing stares turned his direction. Reaching up to rub the back of his neck, he nodded toward the sketchbook to redirect his son's focus. "I'm sorry, Kenji, you're right. Is this the Master Ninja?"

Kenji's annoyance switched right back to a proud grin at the correct "guess," and he nodded enthusiastically. "This is the beautiful and sneaky Master Ninja!"

Kenshin looped his arm around Kaoru's waist again, but kept his most interested expression fixed on Kenji when his son gave him a suspicious look. Satisfied he had his father's full attention, he turned the page to show them the next set of pictures.

Kaoru had to lift her hand to cover her mouth, her eyes dancing with suppressed laughter at the almost comic-style paneling of more simple sketches. The first section had the dragon peering at the ninja over what looked suspiciously like their couch. While the next panel switched to a "close-up" of the ground in front of the ninja to show off a pit covered with a blanket. And finally, the ninja safely away from the trap, sticking out her tongue at the unhappy dragon.

Kenji pointed to each in turn as he continued to tell his story, "When the Dragon King saw the Master Ninja, he fell in love and tried to catch her. But the Master Ninja was too sneaky and escaped."

Kenji turned to page to the dragon wearing Kenshin's favorite apron and holding a plate of cookies. "So the Dragon King made cookies."

Kenshin nearly choked, holding it in through sheer will alone so as not to disturb Kenji's narration a second time. He brought his hand down to cover Kaoru's on his thigh and laced his fingers through hers as he tucked her closer against his side. He bit down on the side of his tongue, struggling even more to hold in his laughter while trying to help Kaoru do the same.

The next page showed the ninja at the plate of cookies, completely covered by a net.

"When the Master Ninja came close to take the cookies, the Dragon King dropped a magic net on her so she couldn't escape," Kenji continued, pointing to the little lines he'd drawn around the net to illustrate its "magic" before he turned to the next picture.

Kenshin's cheeks ached with how wide his smile spread at the drawing of the dragon wrapped around the ninja in a rather serpentine fashion while she cuddled a little baby with red hair and a dragon's tail.

Kenji pointed to the baby, looking back and forth between them to make sure they were looking where they were supposed to. "Then the Dragon King married the Master Ninja and they had a special baby. A Ninja Dragon baby."

He turned the page one last time to show off the self-portrait of him chasing a horned man with hair very much like Sano's with the dragon and ninja smiling in the background. Rocking himself up on his toes, Kenji curled his fingers over the top of his book to keep hold and spread his arms wide. "And the Ninja Dragon was the strongest and most awesome of all. The end!"

Kaoru finally pulled her hand away from her mouth, lips twitching as she fought to sound normal. "Kenji-love, that was the best story I've ever heard."

Visibly preening at the compliment, Kenji turned expectantly to his father for his reaction.

Kenshin shook his head with a wide, blatantly adoring smile and let go of Kaoru's hand to hold out his arm. This time Kenji beamed and clambered up onto their laps eagerly, holding his sketchbook protectively while he returned his father's hug with one arm. Once Kenji had settled to his satisfaction, Kenshin kissed his son on the crown of his head and honestly praised, "That's my new favorite story."

Kenji leaned back, looking from his mother to his father again. "Really?"

"Really." Kaoru nodded in agreement and held out her hand for the sketchbook, making sure to take extra care with the pages when Kenji passed it to her. He practically flattened himself against her once she raised her arm to make it easier for him to sandwich himself down between them.

He excitedly turned those big, expressive eyes that were so much like his father's up on her before he helped her flip back to the first page. And when she made all the appropriately impressed sounds as he pointed out important details like the dragon's watch, he added a dazzlingly bright smile.

Kaoru smiled and rested her chin on Kenji's head, tracing her finger around the dragon and murmuring, "It's so pretty, sweetie. How long have you been working on this?"

"Tou-san said you were suspicious of his cookies because Dragon Kings have to be smart to catch a Master Ninja," Kenji explained, flipping through the page to the cookies again and pointing to the plate. "Even old and powerful Dragon Kings."

Kaoru looked at Kenshin's overly innocent expression over their son's head. "Is that so?"

Kenji nodded enthusiastically, leaning back and looking up at her. "Do you want to hear it again?"

Kaoru stroked her hand over his hair and smiled. "I would love to, Kenji."

Kenji took the sketchbook and flipped back to the first picture. Fidgeting slightly, he tried not to sound too worried and asked, "Do you think Aoshi-nii would want to hear it?"

Kenshin slipped his hands under Kenji's arm and sat him on Kaoru's lap before lifting both of them onto his lap together. Sinking comfortably back into the corner of the couch, he wrapped his arms around Kaoru and clasped his hands on top of Kenji's. He rested his chin on Kaoru's shoulder and winked conspiratorially at Kenji when his son looked up. "Maybe if you're good, the Master Ninja will bring you to the office tomorrow so you can tell it to him personally and find out."

Kenji's attention instantly switched to Kaoru, and she made a show of sighing before stipulating, "Only if you're _good_."

Kenji flung his hands up in excitement and snuggled into Kaoru's arms with the sketchbook propped up on his legs. He tilted his head all the way back to look up at his parents and asked hopefully, "Do you still want to hear it again?"

"You know..." Kenshin stroked his chin and murmured suggestively, "There just might be cookies on the counter that you could use to illustrate secret dragon trapping techniques while you tell it this time."

Kenji let out a delighted squeak, bounding up off Kaoru's lap, and turning to hold his sketchbook out to her as proudly as a samurai offering his sword to his emperor. When Kaoru accepted it with exaggerated grace, he gave her his very best formal bow before giggling and hurrying off to the kitchen.

Kaoru waited until she could hear the distinct sound of Kenji's step-stool being dragged to the counter before sending her husband a dry look over her shoulder. "Dragon King?"

Kenshin ducked down behind his shoulder until all she could see was his eyes. "It's his favorite, you know."

"Don't think I don't know where that 'Master Ninja' thing came from." Kaoru reached up and gave his bangs a scolding tug.

"How else am I supposed to explain that you always know when he's going to jump out of nowhere?" Kenshin teased and brushed a kiss across the nape of her neck.

"Or when _you're_ going to jump out of nowhere?" Kaoru challenged.

Kenshin's smile was entirely unrepentant.

"You realize this is not going to help convince Sano to stop calling him 'Tiny-Kenshin,'" Kaoru pointed out as she stroked her fingertips down the childish drawing, smiling tenderly at Kenji's imagined love story.

Kenshin was silent a moment before he leaned up to whisper in her ear, "I wonder if it would change his mind if I told him you were the one who started role-playing all on your own and took your poor, innocent husband completely by surprise when we made Kenji."

Kaoru shot him an arch look. "Don't even think about it."

Kenshin snickered, leaning up to brush the next kiss across the corner of her mouth.

Kaoru made a disapproving noise in the back of her throat and turned her face away from him. "You keep that up and you'll find out what happens to Dragon Kings when they lose favor with their Master Ninjas."

Kenshin grinned against her hair, bringing his arms up to wrap around her shoulders. "I guess that means I should get to work on a new batch of special cookies and dig out my magic net."

"You do that."

Kenshin closed his eyes, leaning his cheek against hers as he kept an ear out for the sounds in the kitchen. Kenji might be big enough to reach the carefully placed cookies on his own, but it didn't stop him from worrying any less than Kaoru every time he was out of sight. Distractedly, he stroked his thumb along her collarbone and breathed in the smell of her skin and hair with a content sigh.

When he finally opened his eyes, his gaze was drawn to where Kaoru's fingers continued to trace Kenji's art. Watching her silently for a long moment before he whispered his promise softly behind her ear, "I'll make as many as it takes."

Kaoru's lips curled up, discreetly leaning deeper into his embrace while her fingertips lingered on the dragon. "What Master Ninja could resist that?"

Kenshin kissed her shoulder again, scraping his teeth across the slope of muscle, and sliding one hand down to rest low on her stomach. "I'm only interested in one."

Kaoru twisted again, this time slanting a much warmer look at him through half-lowered lashes. She reached up to brush the backs of her fingers down his cheek and tapped her thumb against the corner of his mouth. "I don't think the Dragon King has anything to worry about."

"He'd better not." Kenshin cupped her cheek in one hand, lightly pulling her around farther until he could catch her lips in languorous kiss. He reluctantly eased back before they could get carried away, eyes glittering with mirth as he warned, "I'd hate to have to set the Ninja Dragon on you."

Kaoru practically dissolved into giggles, closing her eyes, and resting her forehead against his. Biting her lip, she glanced at the doorway to be sure Kenji was still safely out of earshot before accusing quietly, "That is _your _son."

Kenshin dragged his hand caressingly down the side of her neck, winding his other arm around her waist to cuddle her closer. Resting his chin on her shoulder again, he smiled warmly and hummed in the back of his throat. "And you wouldn't have it any other way."

"Well," Kaoru drawled out, "they were _very_ good cookies."


	2. Genius

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and all characters therein belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki.

Bliss

_Genius_

Kaoru looked up from her book at the distinct sound of the door opening. A slow smile spread across her lips at the shuffling thud of a bag being dropped carelessly, and the rhythmic pounding of little feet on the floor. She slipped her bookmark between the pages and put the book on the kotatsu table just as Kenji rounded the corner and came running into the living room.

Kenji skidded to a stop in front of her, flung his arms out to the sides, and declared proudly, "I'm a genius!"

Kaoru's brows rose, and an amused smile played across her lips as she pressed both hands on the couch to lever herself up. She winced slightly as her muscles protested and in a flash, Kenji hurried to climb onto the cushion beside her. Squirming down until he could get both hands on her back, he pushed helpfully and urged, "Up, babies, up!"

She almost lost the progress she'd made under a rush of giggles, but she stubbornly kept going until she was sitting upright. Resting both hands on her considerably rounded stomach, Kaoru watched her son meticulously select one of the couch pillows and tuck it behind her back the way he'd seen his father do countless times before. Kenji fussed with it, tucking and tugging until he had it arranged to his satisfaction, and then wrapped both arms around her shoulders in greeting.

"Tadaima, Kaa-san!" Kenji kissed her cheek and then dropped down to repeat the process with her stomach. "Tadaima, babies!"

Kaoru laughed again and threaded her fingers lovingly through Kenji's hair while he continued to smooth his hands down the curve to make sure the babies knew he was home. A flicker of movement in her peripheral vision drew her focus up to find Kenshin leaning against the doorframe. Kenji's afternoon snack was arranged on the tray in his hands, but he seemed perfectly content to stay where he was. He watched her for a long moment, letting his eyes speak volumes until she cleared her throat and dropped her eyes to Kenji.

Kenshin smiled warmly at the blush on her cheeks and finally made his way across the room to his family. Setting the tray beside the remains of Kaoru's own latest craving, he took up his place on her other side and murmured his own greeting intimately into her ear, "Tadaima."

Kaoru sighed and closed her eyes, leaning into his embrace. "Okaeri."

Kenshin kissed her temple before letting her go in favor of sneaking a drink from her tea cup. "How are you feeling?"

"Round, but they're mostly behaving," Kaoru answered wryly, but she chuckled and smiled at him reassuringly when the familiar concerned gleam snuck into his eyes. "Don't look at me like that, I'm perfectly fine."

Kenshin arched an eyebrow, but reluctantly let it slide. Giving her one more suspicious look, he handed Kenji his juice and waited patiently for his son to work the straw into the box. As soon as it was in place, Kenji held it up to show off and Kenshin brought his hand up to his chin with a vague hum. He dragged his exaggerated contemplation out until Kenji started to fidget anxiously before finally agreeing, "Just right."

Kaoru gave Kenshin a pinch for being overdramatic and tilted her head to gesture down at Kenji. "Did your son tell you that he's a genius?"

Kenji straightened his spine regally.

Kenshin passed Kenji one of his onigiri, brows raised in awed curiosity. "Is that so?"

Kenji took a bite, chewing as he nodded in enthusiastic agreement.

"Did something happen at school?" Kenshin absently reached behind Kaoru, lightly digging his fingers into the tense muscles along her spine to soothe the ache.

Kenji nodded again, starting to open his mouth when Kaoru gave him a look that had him quickly closing it. Swallowing the rice, he opened his mouth to his mother to show her it was all gone.

Kaoru laughed softly and tapped him on the end of the nose. "You keep that up and we might just be able to take you to a restaurant tonight."

Kenji beamed and took a sip of his juice before remembering why he'd almost made the breach of manners in the first place. He sent a vague gesture in the direction he thought the school was in and told them, "Arashi's mama is having babies too! He told us today, but when he asked Tanaka-sensei where they came from, she didn't know."

Kaoru blinked, her brow furrowing in confusion as she shared a look with her equally bemused husband.

"So I told them!"

Kaoru immediately bit down on her lip at the smugness radiating off him following that, almost afraid of what was going to come next. When Kenshin hurriedly brought her cup up to his mouth to give himself a way to avoid speaking, she shook her head in exasperation. Even so, she took a deep breath to steel herself for the potential responses, and gave him the encouragement he was waiting for. "You told Tanaka-sensei where babies come from?"

Kenji nodded and shoved the rest of the onigiri into his mouth, chewing and swallowing as he wiped his hand on his uniform shorts. Finished with that bite, he patted Kaoru's stomach with an air of great authority. "Babies come from business trips!"

Kenshin promptly choked, coughing reflexively to clear the misdirected tea from his lungs. His eyes watered as hurried to set the cup aside, covering his mouth with his wrist while his shoulders shook with a mixture of strangled laughter and awkward, involuntary coughs.

"Tou-san, are you okay?" Kenji leaned across Kaoru's legs, worried at the way his father had doubled over.

Kaoru cast a mildly baleful look down at her husband and promised Kenji, "He's fine."

Kenji didn't look entirely convinced, continuing to watch skeptically until Kenshin waved one hand to indicate Kaoru was right. Lips compressed, Kenji looked up at his mother with both brows raised in question.

"Trust me, sweetie." Kaoru rubbed her palm soothingly down her stomach when the twins picked that moment to squirm. Doing her best to ignore Kenshin without letting her own expression slip, she asked, "What did Tanaka-sensei say?"

"She acted all weird." Kenji puffed out his cheeks and frowned as he thought about how best to explain his teacher's reaction. "Kaa-san, I don't think anyone ever told her about babies."

Kenshin hunched his shoulders even more, hiding his face in his lap in his struggle to keep quiet.

Kaoru elbowed him in the side, digging her nails hard into his leg while she smiled down at Kenji and suggested, "Why don't you go change out of your uniform? Then you can be comfortable when you tell the babies what you learned in class."

Kenji's face lit up with excitement and he scooted off the couch to very precisely set his juice box back in its place on the tray. He turned back to Kaoru and wrapped his arms around her stomach. "I'll be right back!"

Cheerfully patting her belly to seal that promise, Kenji turned one more brilliant smile up on his parents and hurried off to his room.

The moment Kenji's footsteps faded, Kaoru twisted and smacked Kenshin on the back to punctuate each word. "Every single time you make _me_ be the serious one, you stupid, stupid man!"

Kenshin rolled onto his side, weakly trying to catch her hands as he finally allowed his laughter to escape. Tears slipped from the corners of his eyes, and he struggled to control himself enough to form words. "H-honey!" Awkwardly, he rocked himself up and wound his arms around her, dropping his head to her shoulder while he continued to shake. "_Business trips!_"

Kaoru's cheeks turned red, but her own lips finally started to twitch in helpless amusement. "Stop it, I'm mad at you."

"Aw, but y-" Kenshin barely managed to get out that much before he lost the battle with his laughter all over again.

Kaoru twisted her face aside, unable to hold in her own smile at the infectious provocation of the sound. She smacked the back of her hand against his leg again, but her own shoulders were already shaking too much for Kenshin not to notice. He sat up and wrapped his arms around her, tugging her back against him.

"This doesn't mean you're off the hook," Kaoru warned him. "I mean it, Kenshin! Every time!"

Kenshin wound down to snickers, rubbing his cheek against hers in affectionate apology. "You're right, honey, I'm sorry. Next time I'll be good."

Kaoru shot him a suspicious glare.

Kenshin's lips twitched.

In the next instant, they both cracked. Simultaneously dropping their foreheads together and giving in to the overwhelming need to share their amusement. Kenshin absently stroked one hand over her hair, grinning widely and repeating, "Business trips."

"_What _have you been saying where he can hear you?" Kaoru demanded.

"I guess he must have overheard when I told Aoshi," Kenshin guessed with a decidedly sheepish expression.

Arching an eyebrow at the faint blush spreading across his cheeks, Kaoru flicked his forehead in half-hearted chiding. "How many times have I told you not to do that?"

Kenshin rubbed the spot with a faint pout and defended, "I had to tell someone. And you used him to set the whole thing up in the first place, so it's not like he didn't already know."

Kaoru folded her arms across her chest.

"Come on, honey!" Kenshin wheedled, rocking her from side to side cajolingly. "How could I keep that to myself?"

"I'm sure Aoshi wonders how you could inflict it on him," Kaoru countered with a snort.

"Sano didn't let me finish when I tried to tell him," Kenshin admitted ruefully.

"Sano refuses to come to the house without advance warning and backup ever since he interrupted you building a pillow fort in a half-open yukata." Kaoru clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "What made you think he'd want to hear it this time?"

Kenshin grinned broadly, his eyes vaguely distant with the pleasant memory before he shook it off and returned to the topic at hand. Nuzzling her temple, he brought his hand down possessively on her stomach and murmured smugly, "Because that time, _you _started it."

Kaoru turned up her nose, but her hand still came up to cover his and lightly lace their fingers together. Without acknowledging the show of affection, she primly warned, "Keep that up, and that's the last _business trip_ you're taking."

"Oh, I don't know, honey," Kenshin purred as he stroked their joined hands lovingly down the curve of her stomach. "She's a _very _demanding and important client. It takes a lot of work to keep her satisfied, and it's my most important contract, you know. I have to devote my utmost personal attention on even the very finest detail."

Kaoru sighed heavily in feigned resignation, "Meaning lots of overtime?"

His eyes fairly glowed with delight as he added, "And business trips."

"You're lucky your wife is very understanding of the demands of your profession." Kaoru tugged her hand loose to give his thigh a pinch and smiled at his startled yelp.

"Luck nothing." Kenshin huffed and carefully looped his arms below her stomach, sliding back to the corner of the couch, and pulling her along to resituate her between his legs. Urging her to lean back against his chest, he calmly resumed stroking her stomach and brazenly remarked, "I have carefully hidden boxes full of bargaining chips in the event it becomes necessary to remind my beautiful wife of all the reasons she loves me too much to ever leave me."

"Blackmail," Kaoru corrected.

Kenshin shrugged nonchalantly. "You say tomato."

"You're impossible." Kaoru chuckled helplessly and shook her head. "You're also forbidden from bragging about when and how I got pregnant."

Kenshin rested his chin on top of her head and let out a long sigh, but grudgingly agreed. "All right, honey."

"Either time."

His shoulders shook lightly with his renewed laughter. "But don't you think it's a sign?"

"It's an unfortunate coincidence, and if anyone asks, you're lying just to irritate me," Kaoru grumbled in mild annoyance.

Kenshin turned his head to rest his cheek against her hair and wondered out loud, "Does this mean Master Ninjas can control their mating cycles?"

Kaoru blinked and finally leaned forward to turn a disbelieving look on her husband. "You did not just say that."

Kenshin struggled to hold a straight face, well aware that his smile was strained and overly bright with the effort. "Reliable evidence suggests-"

Kaoru swatted him upside the head to stop him from finishing that. Not in the least bit surprised when that only prompted him to burst out laughing and slump back against the arm of the couch. Muttering several choice words under her breath, she pointedly ignored him and reached for her abandoned tea. She'd barely started to lean over when Kenshin tugged her back, still chuckling as he picked it up and gave it to her himself.

"You have to admit it's funny," Kenshin urged, keeping his hand close just in case the cup slipped.

"_You _think it's funny."

Kenshin's enthusiastic nod was so reminiscent of Kenji, that Kaoru just couldn't hold her frown. She lifted her cup to hide her giggles, shaking her head again before she took a sip. After a quiet moment, his hands went back to her stomach, rubbing soothing circles over the distended skin. "Can I tell everyone they get their creativity from you?"

"Only if you want them to grow up without a father." Kaoru tapped the empty cup on his hand, letting him move it back to the table. "And no, that was not a suggestion for a lonely, wandering ghost of a tragically murdered husband to haunt the bedroom of the mourning, single mother."

"Ooh, that's a good one," Kenshin praised with delighted admiration.

"No."

"But-!"

"No," Kaoru repeated firmly.

"Ready!" Kenji's cheerful announcement immediately ended the budding "negotiations" and brought their attention to the doorway.

Kaoru blinked, and blinked again before lifting her hand up to cover her involuntary smile. Wearing his favorite gi and hakama, carrying his first bokken in one hand, and dragging his school bag with the other, Kenji hurried back to reclaim his spot on the couch. Under their watchful eyes, he gently set his bokken on the cushion and gave it a pat before climbing up between Kaoru's legs. He dragged the bag up behind him with a faint grunt of exertion and arranged it beside the bokken.

Kenji put one hand on his chin, humming as he examined his handiwork and finally nodding in satisfaction the same way Kenshin had done for him just a short time ago. Opening the bag, he pulled out his workbook and twisted around to more comfortably kneel in place.

Kaoru shared a speaking glance with Kenshin at their son's very serious expression and smiled warmly down at Kenji when he looked to her for approval. Sighing in contentment, Kaoru let her head rest on Kenshin's shoulder while he laced his fingers together just under her stomach.

Kenshin brushed a kiss over her temple, more than happy to put their discussion on hold as Kenji opened his book to start teaching the babies everything he'd learned at school.

Besides, family time always weakened her resolve.

And he had a date with a mourning, single mother to plan for.


	3. Best Intentions

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin and all characters therein belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki.

A/N: Thanks again to everyone who's left reviews for my little drabbles, and here's hoping I can continue to entertain!

Bliss

_Best Intentions_

"I still say it's proof that he's spawning," Sano muttered under his breath.

Kaoru paused in searching through the baby bag to half-heartedly shove her elbow into his stomach for that one. At his grunt of discomfort, she slanted him a look over her shoulder before refocusing on her search. "Kenshin wanted them to have black hair."

"You see? That just proves it was some sort of demonic power he used to impregnate you," Sano defended his position stubbornly. "Can't get your hair when he's using his freaky vibes to clone a little army of himself."

Kaoru stopped, blinking for a moment as she tried to decide if Sano had really said what she heard, and finally turning to face him. "_What_ has gotten into the big empty void you call a head?"

Sano started to open his mouth to answer when a two foot blur of red darted into the room and latched onto Kaoru's legs. "Dragon King says time for school to make the Master Ninja proud!" Reaching both arms up, he hopped up and down until Kaoru obligingly swept him up high enough to reach her cheek for a loud, enthusiastic kiss.

His objective accomplished, Kenji tilted his chin down to regally present his forehead, and Kaoru couldn't stop herself from laughing softly as she dutifully pressed the "requested" kiss right below his hairline. Kenji beamed and puffed up his chest smugly at the show of affection before squirming to be set down.

Kaoru knelt with him to stay on his level, ruffling his hair and straightening his little uniform jacket. "Study hard and be good for your teachers, Kenji-love."

Kenji nodded obediently, giving her another good squeeze before he hurried over to the baby carriers sitting on the low cabinets that lined the wall behind Sano's desk. Putting on his most stern expression, he held up a finger and instructed with utmost seriousness, "I am entrusting Mama to you. All Ninja Dragons must protect the Master Ninja. Especially from the evil, horned mountain giants."

"HEY!" Sano started, only to have Kaoru shush him in favor of watching the interaction.

"Make Aniki proud, babies!" Orders given to his satisfaction, Kenji turned around to give Kaoru's legs one more affectionate squeeze and scurried off to get his ride to school. Kaoru stood up again, absently resting her hands on her hips while she waited for the sound of his footsteps to fade away before she turned back to Sano.

Sano mulishly pointed in the direction Kenji had gone.

"Stop that, he hasn't hit you for a whole month, and _you_ encouraged him," Kaoru snorted and waved off the accusing gesture.

"I did not!" Sano protested.

"Who told Kenji he was the biggest, strongest giant in the world?" Kaoru demanded archly.

"That didn't mean smack a stick across my shins and yell 'Victory' when I fell over," Sano grumbled, reaching up to rub the back of his neck to cover his embarrassment.

"You told him you couldn't be defeated by Ninja Dragons, Sano." Kaoru's lips twitched at the memories of what Misao had termed "The Great Feud." She turned back to her bag before she lost control of her laughter, but didn't bother hiding her amused smile now that he couldn't see her face. "Even Megumi says you brought that on yourself."

"Demon. Spawn."

Kaoru snickered, finally uncovering the little box that Kenshin used to hold the bottle tops for the twins. She set it in front of Sano before taking the two coinciding bottles of milk from the insulated pocket and putting them beside it. "This should tide them over until I'm out of the meeting. You can give it to them now, or a little later. Just screw the nipple tops onto the bottles and tilt their carriers back for them so they can lean while they're eating. They've gotten strong enough to hold them by themselves, but it's still best to keep an eye out just in case."

"Do you really have to say nipple tops?" Sano poked the box as though afraid some poisonous creature was going to come launching out at his throat.

"You're going to have to get used to a lot worse when your own comes along," Kaoru warned with a taunting click of her tongue. "Remember to burp them when they finish, and you still remember how to change diapers, right?"

Sano's cheeks turned faintly pink, "Yeah, yeah. I got it."

"And no muttering about them being demon spawn," Kaoru ordered firmly, pressing the tip of her finger to his chest to make sure he understood she was serious. "If they hear you, or gods-forbid, Kenshin heard you and I wake up naked, painted with occult symbols and candle wax, I'm blaming you."

Sano blanched at the description. "Aw, Hell, Jou-chan, don't say shit like that to me!"

Kaoru rose up on her toes to smack him upside the head. "And no cursing."

Sano quickly held up both hands, trying to give her his most earnest expression when he assured her, "No cursing."

She held his gaze a moment longer to be sure Sano understood the seriousness of her last command, and finally sighed, dropping her gaze to her watch. Muttering a few choice words under her breath, Kaoru smoothed a hand over her hair before checking her suit to be sure nothing was out of place.

Once she was sure her clothes were up to par for meeting clients, she leaned over to give each of the twins a kiss on the forehead. The boys giggled at the attention, reaching up to grab at her hair in their efforts to keep her close for more. Kaoru smiled warmly even as she expertly captured little grasping hands and reluctantly straightened. Turning back on Sano, she pointed at him in a way that gave him a pretty good idea where Kenji had picked up one of his favorite stances. "Take care of my boys, and send someone to get me if anything happens."

Sano couldn't help but smile, looping his arm comfortingly around her shoulders and guiding her to the door. "Everything is going to be fine, Jou-chan. If I can handle Tiny-Kenshin, these two won't be any trouble. They ain't even walking yet."

Kaoru's lips quirked in a rueful smile and she admitted, "I know, I know. I just wasn't expecting to have to do this until they were a little older."

"That's business." Sano shrugged and gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Go on before Kenshin gets antsy and decides to take it out on the Kaname group."

"I'm not sure Aoshi would be terribly upset by that," Kaoru snorted, giving the twins one last look and a wave that they both enthusiastically mimicked before she finally, reluctantly, headed to the conference room.

Sano raked a hand through his hair, quietly closing the door and turning back to look at the blue-eyed boys. Exhaling heavily, he turned around and jerked slightly at finding that with the absence of their mother, the identical little faces were watching his every move with a strange sort of alertness he was absolutely certain came from Kenshin.

Clearing his throat to shake the morbid turn his imagination was trying to take, Sano slowly inched his way back to the bottles Kaoru had packed. The boys blinked in unison, sitting up straighter in their carriers the closer his hand came to the bottles. And as soon as Sano's hand experimentally closed around one, four hands reached out toward him and broke the silence with high-pitched, unintelligible noises and giggles.

The one on the left opened his mouth and made a sound that was likely meant to encourage Sano to bring the bottle the rest of the way to him rather than dragging his feet and hoarding it for himself. Sano tilted his head, confusion furrowing his brow as he struggled to remember which boy Kaoru said was in which seat. He was _almost _sure that was Ryosei. Unless it was Shinji...

Sano reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, swallowing the instinctive curse on the tip of his tongue. _I should have paid more attention when Jou-chan was telling me which one was which_.

This time the half-cry was definitely impatient.

"Ah!" Sano snapped out of his thoughts, feeling color rise a little in his cheeks at the unintentional hesitation. Muttering under his breath at his own behavior, he opened the box with the nipple tops and switched them out with the sealed caps. He turned the bottles upside-down one at a time to shake them over his hand and make sure there wouldn't be any problems with leaking before dutifully carrying them to the twins.

"It's a good thing no one's here to see this," Sano grumbled while he adjusted the seats to recline a little more and passed bottles into increasingly eager hands. "Just keep it in mind who's feeding you when your mom's busy. And put in a good word for me when your father finishes creating his evil army and turns all us humans into slaves."

The one he thought was Ryosei gurgled at him, offering a smile until he worked the nipple into his mouth and moved on to the much more important task of eating.

Smiling helplessly, Sano ruffled the boy's scarlet hair, and quickly did the same to his brother just in case they were old enough to get jealous over unbalanced attention. Once he was sure both were settled and content, he stepped back to his desk and frowned at the stacked files still waiting for his attention.

He already spent a week trying to untangle the ridiculous snarl of books, files, and invoices Aoshi had forced the Kaname group to send from their failing branch. Then again, if the paperwork was any indication of their intelligence or organizational skills, Sano was amazed they'd held the business as long as they had. Let alone that they had the gall to come scraping to Kenshin for investment support, forcing not only his early return for the "requested" conference, but Kaoru's as well.

Sano had his suspicions that Aoshi had gotten annoyed with the daily calls and purposefully arranged to have the meeting timed in a way guaranteed to have Kaoru on edge and fidgety. Just to ensure the Kaname executives got the full force of Kenshin's resulting short-temper.

Not that he could blame him.

Or prove it, for that matter.

Sano tapped his pencil irritably against the open ledger, glancing from the column of numbers to the tally displayed on his computer screen. His frown deepened at the discrepancy in those numbers and he sorted through the folders until he found the expense forms he needed for comparison. Moving it to the top of the pile, he thumbed through the receipts and pages and marked each matching expense.

Picking up the next invoice in the stack, Sano started to skim the information and stopped at the date. Blinking, he scanned the rest of the page just to be sure, and ground his teeth hard at the verification of what he was looking at.

The invoice was two years old.

Sano slapped a hand down hard on the paper, scowling darkly at the page listing the matching information from that old invoice for _this _year. "Can any of those idiots even read?!" Sano vented furiously, tossing his pencil across the desk and ignoring when it tumbled to the floor. He'd found no less than twelve similar instances for the past two years, and if he found one more, the Kaname paperwork was going to have an unfortunate accident with the nearest incinerator.

Raking a hand through his hair again, Sano propped his elbows on his desk and covered his eyes with one hand. "Goddammit."

"Goddammit!"

Sano felt the color leech out of his face as a frigid chill raced down his spine and settled heavily in his gut. Forcing his hand away from his eyes, Sano turned with agonizingly slow reluctance and stared wide-eyed at the twins. Every muscle in his body felt locked up, cold sweat beading on his forehead the longer he watched the two boys continue innocently sucking on their bottles.

_Okay_, Sano exhaled shakily and struggled to bring his racing heartbeat under control. _It was nothing_. _It was your imagination_. _They're both still eating, everything's fine_.

Ryosei took the bottle out of his mouth and gave Sano his brightest smile.

Sano's jaw clenched at the sudden foreboding that chased across his senses.

Ryosei lifted the bottle, seeming to contemplate putting it back in his mouth before he let it lower again. Tilting his head, he giggled and smacked one hand down on the flat tray of his carrier. "Goddammit!"

Sano's elbow slipped off the edge of his desk.

Unfortunately, with as much weight as that elbow had been supporting, the loss of support sent him off the edge of his chair and straight to the floor.

Ryosei giggled and stuck his bottle back in his mouth.

Sano shot up, promptly cracking the back of his head painfully on the underside of his desk. Lifting both hands to the spot in an instinctive, protective gesture, Sano hissed and eased back until he was sure he'd cleared the heavy wood. He rubbed his head with a wince, glaring at his desk until the shock of pain wore off and brought the cause of his mishap right back to the forefront of his mind.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no..." Scrambling over to the carriers, Sano indecisively raised and lowered his hands as he tried figure out where to put them to properly convey the severity of the situation. His panicked gaze went from the door to the twins and back repeatedly until Sano settled on holding both hands up in front of chest. "You _have _to forget you heard that, baby."

Ryosei watched him curiously, content to leisurely suck on his bottle while Sano fidgeted and pleaded in front of them.

Shoving both hands into his hair and curling them into fists, Sano absently yanked on the captive strands in his struggle to quell the ever-rising sense of impending doom. The ticking of the clock on the wall seemed to echo through his head as his imagination replaced the usually innocent sound with something much more ominous. A signal of the precious few seconds remaining in his life ticking away...

Sano covered his eyes with his hands, scrubbing them up and down in a futile attempt to erase his mistake. Peering down at the unchanged sight of the twins gazing up at him with those big, blue-violet eyes, he sunk down to his knees and wearily set his clasped hands between the carriers. "Your mother is going to kill me."

Ryosei smiled around his bottle and glanced over at his brother. Sano could swear the two of them were involved in some creepy mental discussion, especially with the almost mischievous gleam that lit their eyes when they looked at him again.

Suddenly, Kenji's daily stealth assaults didn't seem so bad.

"Goddammit!"

Sano winced at the cheerful expletive, dropping his head onto his forearms with a frustrated whine. "Shit." Eyes snapping wide at the sound of his own reflexive curse, he rocked back on his heels and reached out toward the boys desperately. "No, don't-!"

"Shit!"

Sano's expression crumbled at the delighted smile on Shinji's face, helplessly looking from one boy to the other. "_Please_ don't do this to me, babies. I'll get you whatever you want when you grow up! Candy, beer, anything you want if you just be good and pretend you never talked!"

Looking at the twins again, Sano's shoulders slumped in defeat and he muttered, "You don't have any idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

Shinji held his bottle out toward Sano helpfully.

Sighing heavily, Sano reached out and ruffled the little boy's bright red hair before gently pushing the bottle back toward Shinji's mouth. "That's not going to help me much, little man, but thanks anyway."

Shinji obligingly chewed on the nipple top and offered Sano a smile so wide his eyes almost completely closed.

Sano sunk down on his heels in a picture of abject misery. _Somehow, I always imagined pure evil would look a little more obvious_. _Like have scales, or horns, or hooves or something_. Blinking at that last thought, Sano looked speculatively at the little shoes hiding the boys' feet. _Then again-_

"Goddammit!"

Sano's hand went right back to his temples, trying in vain to rub away the ache creeping up behind his eyes. He absently glanced at the clock, only to snap back to it and stare in disbelief as his cheeks paled. That much time couldn't _possibly_ have passed since Kaoru left him the twins. That didn't leave anywhere near enough time for him to come up with a viable escape plan before Kaoru discovered his mistake.

But double checking not only the clock on his computer, but his wrist-watch as well revealed that the wall clock was most unfortunately accurate.

"I could put in for a transfer," he idly muttered as his mind still raced to come up with a solution in the very short time remaining in his life. "It only takes an hour to get to the airport... I could empty my accounts and reinvent myself as an oyster farmer in Nagasaki."

"What about Nagasaki?"

Sano shot up so quickly that he half expected to find his skin left lying in a heap on the floor around him. As it was, he barely managed to avoid biting his own tongue in the instinctive snap toward the voice, but couldn't catch the half-desperate words spilling out oh him. "What are you doing here?!"

Kenshin blinked, both brows rising in confusion at his unexpected reaction. "Kaoru wasn't feeling well, so we finished early." Brushing aside that bit of info as unimportant, he absently glanced back to check if Kaoru had caught up before pushing the door open wider to step into Sano's office. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, I'm great!" Sano rushed to assure him, forcing a smile as he reflexively reached up to rub the back of his neck. "Just great! Just- ah, just got so caught up, you know... Lost track of time and all." He swallowed around the lump of panic with difficulty, ignoring how his heart raced while his eyes strained to see if Kaoru was anywhere close to coming through his door. It was even harder not to sound too hopeful when he asked, "You and Jou-chan heading out already?"

Kenshin's eyes clearly warned that he didn't buy his excuses, but with a sigh and a shrug, he obliged the not-so-subtle topic change. "Not just yet. Kaoru still wants me to go over that summary Aoshi put together before we go to lunch."

"Yeah, well." Sano discreetly edged away from the baby seats, gauging the distance to the door out of the corner of his eye. "That's Kaoru. Always thinking."

Kenshin's brows furrowed with growing suspicion, but as soon as he opened his mouth to question the odd behavior, he'd come far enough into the room for the twins to catch sight of him.

When the sudden, matching squeals instantly diverted their father's attention, Sano discreetly let out his anxiously held breath. Shoving his hands into his pockets to hide how the untimely rush of adrenaline was making them shake, he pivoted to keep his gaze on Kenshin and the boys while he made his way silently toward the door.

The muscles down his spine fairly tingled at the freedom just out of reach, and the back of his heel brushed the seam of the doorway carpet-

"Did they fall asleep?"

Sano's muscles spasmed and tensed at the same time as he instinctively twisted to face what his subconscious clearly felt was the greatest threat to his continuing health. But the force of the spin sent him farther than he'd intended, and Sano frantically made a grab for the door frame to stop himself. His fingers barely brushed the wood when he somehow caught one foot against the other and pitched himself straight to the floor at Kaoru's feet.

In the stunned quiet that followed, the twins burst into delighted giggles and let their bottles down just to clap their approval of Sano's "trick."

Kaoru blinked down at the normally agile man, tilting her head as she waited for Sano to collect himself enough to roll over and meet her gaze. The boys quite obviously weren't sleeping, but with the way Sano had been sneaking to the door...

Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the potential reasons behind that, and she slowly brought her hands to her hips. "And just _what _was _that _about?"

Sano vaguely wondered if Kaoru was even aware of how much more daunting her disapproval sounded since she'd had children, but one look at her expression warned him that it wasn't the best time to bring that up. His apprehensive gaze darted back to the babies, struggling not to flinch at the matching stares he found focused directly on his face. It was nearly impossible to break away from that before Kaoru could get more suspicious, but with a few silent prayers, he carefully eased himself back to his feet.

Somehow though, not even regaining his considerable height advantage over her made the cold lump of fear steadily growing in his stomach go away.

"Sano."

Sano reached up to rub the back of his neck, giving her a pained smile in an attempt to mollify the growing impatience in her tone. "Ah... you- You just took me by surprise!" He straightened his posture with that excuse, proud that he'd managed to string together something that sounded normal enough.

Smiling hopefully, he stepped to the side in an unspoken "request" for her to come in to his office enough to clear his escape route before his luck ran out.

Unfortunately, Kaoru didn't seem to get the hint, and he floundered for something else he could say.

"I just," he started hesitantly as his eyes shifted back to look at the twins. However, at the sight of Kenshin leaning forward to let them grab at his hair, Sano felt a moment of divine inspiration hit. Turning back to Kaoru, he offered her a lop-sided smile and lowered his voice to a more secretive murmur, "I just thought Kenshin would rather do his demonic imprinting without an audience."

Kaoru immediately swatted him upside the head and shot him a speaking glare to warn just what would happen if that came out loud enough for Kenshin to hear.

Sano grinned widely at the predictable response, rubbing the sting out of his newest injury and valiantly fighting to keep from showing his eagerness when she finally took a step forward. He could feel the muscles along his neck and shoulders gradually tighten in anticipation, ready to do whatever it took to make the mad dash to safety and freedom.

"They didn't give you any trouble, did they?" Kaoru asked while her attention visibly switched to her family, softening with warm affection as Kenshin unfastened Ryosei's safety belt.

"No, no!" Sano hurried to assure her, holding up both hands as though warding off even the possibility of that. "Just gave them the bottles and they didn't make a peep. They were so good I almost forgot they were there."

Kaoru's lips kicked up at the corners, only half listening to Sano while Kenshin hoisted the giggling Ryosei up over his head. Right on cue, Shinji forgot all about his bottle and reached both hands up to encourage Kenshin to pick him up too. Shaking her head with a widening smile, Kaoru absently brushed her bangs out of her eyes and decided to come to her husband's rescue before the boys could overpower him.

Sano discreetly shifted his weight from foot to foot, hardly daring to breathe as Kaoru took another step away from the doorway.

_So close_... _Just a little farther_...

Kaoru's shoulder brushed his elbow, and Sano's full focus zeroed in on the clearing path of his open door. Subconsciously, he leaned forward, straining to hold still when every instinct was clamoring at him to rush past Kaoru _now _regardless of how suspicious it might look.

Just why the Hell was Kaoru taking so long to move the three damn feet he needed?

Fate was laughing at him, watching him squirm and _laughing _at him.

That was the only explanation he could-

"Goddammit!"

Every muscle in Sano's body went rigid.

Apparently, Fate didn't much care for disrespectful thoughts.

Tentatively, Sano forced himself to turn toward Kaoru, swallowing hard in a futile attempt to soothe his dry throat before he convinced his eyes to meet hers in the suddenly oppressive atmosphere. But even fully expecting to be subjected to the full weight of her temper, Sano still felt himself take a nervous step back from the intensity of the glare on her otherwise expressionless face.

Suddenly, he wasn't so sure the boys took after their father as much as he'd thought.

"N-now, Jou-chan," Sano's voice caught in his throat, forcing him to swallow awkwardly before he tried again. "It was an accident, I swear! It isn't as bad as it sounds!"

Kaoru pivoted to face him straight on with what could only be called predatory grace, folding her arms over her chest with exaggerated precision while one brow arched in silent demand.

Sano cast a beseeching look to Kenshin over her head, only to feel the blood drain from his cheeks when the shorter man returned it with an unsympathetic frown and a negative shake of his head. Frantically looking from Kaoru to the door and back to Kaoru, he felt his hopes for any escape rapidly drain away to nonexistence.

"Goddammit!"

Sano flinched at the much too happy chirp, inwardly lamenting the sudden, deadly turn his life had taken. _It just doesn't get any worse than this-_

"Shit!"

In the deafening silence following Shinji's helpful reminder not to tempt Fate so brazenly after proof She wasn't in the best of moods, Sano could only stare helplessly at the woman who had just become his own personal Angel of Death. If he had any favor with any of the various gods, maybe Kaoru would be in a generous mood. A generous, non-killing sort of mood that allowed him the chance to hide until her very tangible rage had subsided into a more manageable, not-so-lethal state of mind.

Kaoru's knuckles cracked with ominous finality.

"Shit!"

And staring down into Kaoru's darkening eyes, all Sano could manage was a weak, "You said it, little man."


End file.
